Railroad maintenance machine



W M mm mm NW MN nu n MHHHH 2. Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan. 15, 1963 H. G. MILLERRAILROAD MAINTENANCE MACHINE Filed March 10, 1961 Na MM nit States3,073,258 RAILRGAD MAHNTENANCE MACHINE Harold G. Miller, Racine, Wis.,assignor to Racine Hydraulics and Machinery, Inc., a corporation ofWisconsin Filed May 10, 1961, Ser. No. 109,157 9 Claims. (Cl. 104-7) areselectively engageable with the outer surfaces of the rails under theballs thereof and a spacer member movable to a position between and inengagement with the inner surfaces of the rails to maintain the spacedrelationship of the rails during clamping.

Another object is to provide a clamping structure as described in thepreceding paragraph whereby the clamping members having actuatingmembers thereon for engaging the spacer member and moving it to aposition between and in engagement with the inner surfaces of the railwhile the clamps are being moved into clamping position.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent from the followingdetailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective fragmentary view of a railroad maintenancemachine embodying the clamping invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side elevational view, partly in section of therail clamping structure shown in the lower part of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the rail clamping structureshowing the clamp structure in a release position in full line and aclamping position in broken line; and

FIG. 4 is a view taken substantially along the line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many differentforms there is shown in the drawings, and will herein be described indetail, an embodiment of the invention and a modification thereof withthe understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as anexemplification of the principles of the invention, and is not intendedto limit the invention to the embodiment illustrated. The scope of theinvention will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a railroad maintenance machinehaving a frame indicated generally at 1d with wheels 11 for supportingthe machine on a pair of railroad rails 12. The frame supports operatingequipment indicated generally at 14 which, in the described embodiment,is tamping equipment for tamping ballast around railroad ties such asshown in Kind Patent No. 2,855,862.

A rail clamping and spacing device is operable to secure the frame 19 ofthe maintenance machine to the tracks 12, and includes a pair of clampmembers, shown at 15 and 16, mounted one at each side of the frame 10above the rails 12 and also includes rail spacer members 17 3,d73,253Patented Jan. 15, 1963 rail up from the ground level a predeterminedamount. The jacks are independently controlled and thus the machine andrails can assume a level condition or other desired condition.

Referring to FIG. 3, the frame 10 has a support member 21 extendingtransverse and above the rails 12. A pair of spaced brackets 22 and 23are fixed to the under side of the support member 21 at both endsthereof and are located directly above each of the rails 12. A pin 24extends between and is supported by each of the bracket pairs 22 and 23and pivotally mounts one of the clamp devices 15 and 16. Each of theclamp devices 15 and 16 and their associated structure is identical,therefore only one will be described. The clamp device 16 comprises twoidentical bodies 16a and 16b which are spaced from one another and arepivotally mounted at one end thereof on the pin 24. Each of the members16a and 16b have at their opposite end a leg 25 that extends at an angleto the length of the body. Each of the bodies 16a and 16b has anactuating member 27 in the form of a rod welded at one end to the bodymembers and extending outward from the members above the parallel to therail 12. The pivoted end of each of the body members 16m and 16b has apart 28 extending upward therefrom and a pin 29 extends across the spacebetween the parts 28 and is secured thereto. The rod end 30:: of ahydraulic cylinder 30 is pivotally connected to the pin 29 between thebody member 16a and 16b and the base of the hydraulic cylinder ispivotally connected to the support member 21 by a pin 32 and a pair ofbrackets 33 that are afiixed to the under side of the member 21generally midway the ends thereof.

The pivotal connection of the rod end of the cylinder 35) at pin 29 isabove the pivotal connection of the clamp 16 on the pin 24 so thatactuation of the cylinder 30 to extend the rod 36a outward pivots theclamp 16 downward in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 3, theclamp device 15 downward and in a counterclockwise direction as viewedin FIG. 3. The size of the clamp 16 and the particular angle at whichthe legs 25 extend from the body members 16a and 16!) allows ends of thelegs 25a to engage the outer surface of the rail 12 beneath the ball ofthe rail when the cylinder 30 is in its fully extended position, asshown by the dotted line position of the clamp in FIG. 3.

As mentioned before, there are two clamp devices 15 and 16, positionedon the frame 10 above each of the rails 12 and each pivoted by ahydraulic cylinder 30 to bring the clamps into engagement with theoutside of the rails and clamp the rails securely to the support member21.

By clamping the rails in the manner described above, the gauge betweenthe rails may be affected since the clamps may exert snfiicient pressureto force the rails inward toward each other, and if the rails happen tobe loose on the ties the correct gauge would not be maintained.

To prevent the variance in gauge between the rails as they are clamped,a novel method of maintaining the spaced relation between the rails hasbeen devised. A pair of spacing members 17 and 17a are positioned oneither side of the clamping devices 15 and 16 above the rails 12 andtransverse the length thereof. Only one of the spacing members will bedescribed since the constructiciln of one applies equally well to theconstruction of the ot er.

The spacing member 17 is comprised of a T bar and is mounted to have theleg 35 of the T depending toward the rails 12. The top flange 36 ofspacing member 17' extends across the rails 12 so that the ends areoutboard of the rails. The leg 35 is cut back from the ends of the T barso that the length of the leg is equal to the gauge 3 between the rails12 as measured from the inside surface of the balls of the rails.

The spacer member 17 is mounted to a pair of support members 38 whichare a part of the frame it? and extend at right angles to the support 21and parallel to and above each of the rails 12. A pair of rods 46 aresecured at one end to the top flange 36 of the spacer member 17 oneadjacent each end thereof by a nut 41 and extends vertically upwardtherefrom. The support members 33 have a pair of brackets 43 and idextending outward therefrom mounted one above the other. The brackets 43and 44- are provided with in-line holes for slidably receiving rods 49.The upper end of rods it extends beyond the brackets 43 and eachreceives a compression spring 45 which is confined on the rod by a nut46. The spring 45 is confined between the brackets 43 and the nut 46,and the nut is tightened to compress the spring so that the rods 4% willalways be biased in an upward direction thereby normally maintaining thespacer members 17 above the rails 12 as shown in FIGURES 1 and 3. Thespacer member 17a is similarly biased above the rails. When mounting thespacer members 17 and 17a the top flange 36 of the T bar is positionedbelow the actuating members 27 that extend from either side of the clamp16 and the actuating member lies atop and in contact with the topsurface of the T bar.

The operation of the clamping structure will now be described. Themaintenance machine is moved on the wheels 11 along the tracks 12 to alocation where it is desired to do work. The hydraulic cylinders 30 arethen actuated by a suitable hydraulic system (not shown) on the machineand the rods 30a are extended fully, pivoting the clamps downward toengage the ends 25a with the outside of the rails beneath the balls ofthe rails and thereby structure is such that the leg 35 of the spacermembers is in spacing position as shown by the dotted lines in FIG. 3,just as the clamps are in their clamping position, also shown by dottedlines in FIG. 3. With the rails now clamped to the frame of themaintenance machine and v the gauge being maintained by the spacermembers, the

entire machine and the rails may be adjusted relative to the groundbyactuating hydraulic jacks 2% which as previously mentioned, are locatedon either side of the machine. The hydraulic jacks 2d are attached tothe frame it) by a hinged pivot as at Siland exert pressure against theground at St tending to lift the maintenance machine, the rails, and therailroad ties 52 so that work may be performed, in this case anautomatic ballast tamping operating to provide a firm uniform base forthe railroad ties.

I claim:

1. In a railroad maintenance machine having a frame for supportingoperating equipment, said frame having wheels for support of themachines on railroad rails, a clamp structure for securing the rails tothe frame including: a pair of clamp members mounted on and located oneat each side of the frame adjacent one of the railroad rails; means formoving each of the clamp members into engagement with the adjacent railat the outer side thereof; means normally extending across the spaceabove the rails and movable to a position between and in engagement withthe rails to maintain the spaced relation between the rails duringclamping; means movably mounting the last mentioned means on the frame;and means moving said last mentioned means in response tomovement of theclamp members.

2. In a railroad maintenance machine having a frame for supportingoperating equipment relative to railroad rails, a clamp structure forsecuring the rails to the frame including: a pair of clamp memberspivotally supported one on each side of said frame associated with andlocated one above each of said railroad rails; means pivoting each ofsaid clamp members into engagement with the outer sides of theassociated rail; means normally extending across and above the spacebetween the rails and movable by said clamp members to engage the innersides of said rail to maintain the spaced relationship between the railsduring clamping; and means movably mounting the last mentioned means onthe frame.

3. A railroad rail clamping device for a pair of railroad railscomprising: a frame with a support member and wheels supported by saidrails, said support member extending transverse the length of the rails;a pair of clamp members located one on each end of said support memberabove each of said rails, each of said clamp members having a bodypivotally mounted adjacent an end thereof to the support member andhaving a leg at the opposite body end extending at an angle to thelength of the body; means for pivoting said clamp members to have theleg of each clamp member engage the outer sur- 1 ace of one of the railsbeneath the ball of the rail; and means normally extending across thespace between the rails and movable to a position between and inengagement with the inner surface of the rail to maintain the spacedrelationship between the rails during clamping; and means mounting thelast mentioned means on the support member.

4. The clamping device of claim 3 whereby the means for pivoting theclamp members includes hydraulic means mounted on said support memberand operable to simultaneously pivot said clamp members into engagementwith the rails.

5. A railroad rail clamping device for a pair of railroad railscomprising: a frame with a support member and wheels supported by saidrails; a pair of clamp members located one on each end of said supportmember and above each of the rails, means for pivoting said clampmembers into clamping engagement with said rails, rail spacing meansnormally extending across the space between the rails and above therails, means mounting said spacing means on the support member, saidspacing means being movable to a position between and in engagement cwith the inner surface of the rails to maintain the spaced relationshipbetween the rails during clamping; actuating means on the body of eachof said clamp members engaging said rail spacing means to move said railspacing means to a position between and in engagement with the railswhile said clamps are pivoted into clamping engagement with the rails tomaintain the spaced relationship between the rails during clamping.

6. The clamping device of claim 5 whereby the rail spacing meansincludes at least one bar resiliently mounted to said support member,below and parallel to the support member and normally above saidrailroad rails, said bar having a portion depending therefrom which isof a length equal to the distance between the railroad rails, wherebysaidbar is moved downward by the actuating means on said clamp membersto bring the depending portion between the rails and in engagement withthe inner surface thereof to maintain the spaced relationship betweenthe rails during clamping.

7. In a railroad maintenance machine having a frame for supportingoperating equipment, said frame having wheels for support of the machineon railroad rails, a clamp structure'for securing the rails to the frameinclud ing: a pair oficlamp members'located one on each side of theframe above a rail, said clamp members each having a body pivotallymounted adjacent an end there-of to the frame and having a leg at theopposite body end extending at an angle to the length of the body; m ansfor selectively pivoting eachrofsaid clamp members simultaneously from afirst position whereby the clamp members are above the railroad rails toa second position whereby the legs of each of the clamp members engagethe outer surfaces of the rails beneath the ball of the rail to securethe rail to the frame; a rail spacing member resiliently mounted to saidframe and located above and transverse said rails, said spacer memberhaving a depending portion the length of which is equal to the distancebetween the rails, means for moving said spacer member from a firstposition whereby the member is above the rails to a second positionwhereby the depending portion of said member is between said rails tomaintain the spacing between the rails as they are clamped.

8. The device of claim 7 whereby the means for moving the spacer memberfrom its first position to its second position includes: an actuatingmember extending lateraliy outward from each of said clamp members andengaging the top surface of said spacer member whereby pivoting theclamp members into clamping engagement with the outside surfaces of therails moves the spacing memher downward to bring the depending portionthereof between and in engagement with the inner surface or" the railsto maintain the spaced relationship of the rails during clamping.

9. The device of claim 7 whereby the spacing member is mounted to theframe by a pair of rods, extending vertically upward from said memberand slidable in said frame, said rods being biased upwardly by springsto normally maintain the spacing member above the rails.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,831,670 Lavan Nov. 10, 19 1 2,216,434 Cooper et a1. Oct. 1, 19402,286,456 Boettcher June 16, 1942 2,696,971 Philbrick Dec. 14, 954

2,760,440 Kershaw Aug. 28, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,206,421 France Aug.24, 1959

1. IN A RAILROAD MAINTENANCE MACHINE HAVING A FRAME FOR SUPPORTINGOPERATING EQUIPMENT, SAID FRAME HAVING WHEELS FOR SUPPORT OF THE MACHINEON RAILROAD RAILS, A CLAMP STRUCTURE FOR SECURING THE RAILS TO THE FRAMEINCLUDING: A PAIR OF CLAMP MEMBERS MOUNTED ON AND LOCATED ONE AT EACHSIDE OF THE FRAME ADJACENT ONE OF THE RAILROAD RAILS; MEANS FOR MOVINGEACH OF THE CLAMP MEMBERS INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH THE ADJACENT RAIL AT THEOUTER SIDE THEREOF; MEANS NORMALLY EXTENDING ACROSS THE SPACE ABOVE THERAILS AND MOVABLE TO A POSITION BETWEEN AND IN ENGAGEMENT WITH THE RAILSTO MAINTAIN THE SPACED RELATION BETWEEN THE RAILS DURING CLAMPING; MEANSMOVABLY MOUNTING THE LAST MENTIONED MEANS ON THE FRAME; AND MEANS MOVINGSAID LAST MENTIONED MEANS IN RESPONSE TO MOVEMENT OF THE CLAMP MEMBERS.